A Boss and a Lab Rat
by instantchaos
Summary: Set after the episode where Mac yells at Adam in front of Stella for not going straight to him w/ DNA results. Adam/Mac mentor/father figure.  Implications of Adam's past. Warning some mild swear words.


Okay. So I am getting back into my CSI:NY fandom and there aren't many fics about Adam, so I wrote one. :D Please bear with me, I'm kinda new to publishing on FanFiction, so Please Review! PLease. Please. Please. Okay.

Oh and I DO NOT OWN CSI:NY or it's characters (although i wish i did hmm...). They belong to CBS and Jerry Brucjheimer, etc etc.

So this is set after that time in Season 3 when Mac yells at Adam in front of Stella, b/c he showed the deputy inspector some DNA before he showed Mac. He just looked so sad and the way he had his head down even after Mac had left made me want ot write this. And I know that there are other fics similar to this, but I really just wanted to write another one XD Okay. Enjoy!

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After Mac and Stella had left him alone, he snuck past the other lab techs and walked down the hallway to the locker room. Once inside the sanctuary of lockers, he sank onto a wooden bench and rested his back against the cool metal of the lockers. Mac's words kept pounding through his head, over and over. He massaged his temples and realized his hands were still shaking.

Even though Stella had said not to take it personally, Adam couldn't help it. He'd been trying so hard since he'd started working at the lab, it was his dream job and he felt almost as though he could really belong here. He didn't want to mess it up. And Mac, damn it, no matter what he did, he was a bundle of nerves around him. Sometimes he wished he could be more like Danny or Flack, they accepted that Mac was their superior at work, but they were still so casual with him.

Soon, Mac's words twisted into his fathers, the things he had yelled at him every day. The reasons he gave for the beatings that inevitably came. _You're useless. Always in trouble. Can't even remember to do the god damn dishes. Punk. You should tell me first. Worthless. You owe me. I have done so much for you. Stupid kid._

The curly haired lab tech was so drowned in his thoughts that he didn't hear the door squeal open and the footsteps approaching him. "Adam. Adam, are you okay?" Mac reached out a hand and touched the unresponsive young man on the shoulder.

Adam jerked back at the unexpected contact and slammed his head against the locker behind him. His eyes widened in shock when he saw who was standing in front of and he jumped to his feet, making for the door. "Mac? Oh shit…I'm sorry Boss. I was uh, I was just, uh grabbing something from my locker. I'll, uh, I'll get back to work right away."

"Adam, wait." Mac took a step towards Adam, and the young lab rat flinched violently, a panicked look in his brown eyes. Mac backed up and sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Look. I'm sorry I yelled at you like that. All of the team is used to how I get when I'm stressed and sometimes I forget that you're haven't been here as long."

He looked up at Adam, who was boring his eyes into the ground, as if NYPD issue linoleum was the most interesting thing he'd seen all day, and hunching his shoulders, his whole body tense, and kept talking in a soothing voice, "Adam, it's okay. I 'm your boss and I am going to have to yell at you sometimes, but that doesn't mean I'm going to take any further, okay?"

Adam finally seemed to relax a little and looked up, attempting a weak grin, "I know Mac. I'm fine, really. I-it's just…" He took a breath and shifted his weight nervously, his Converses squeaking against the shiny floor, "It's just that, I don't know, Danny and Hawkes, and Flack seem to handle it so well, and I'm just…I'm just me." He trailed off, glueing his eyes to the floor again.

"You are an intelligent, inventive, amazing, and talented lab tech who works his ass off every day he comes into this lab. I hired you because I thought you would grow well here and because I knew you had something to offer. And you do." Mac bored his eyes into Adam, giving him another patented Mac Taylor look, only this wasn't the "_You are so dead"_ or the "_really, honestly are doing that?" _look, it was something else. And for once it didn't make Adam want to high tail it to the opposite end of the lab. "Now let's get back to work. And please, please remember to send ALL information to me first."

"Y-yes Boss. Right away Boss. I am on my way." Adam laughed nervously and headed out, before he got a different Mac Taylor look. As he passed the lunch room, he saw Lindsay and Danny arguing over a take-out menu, and made a mental note to ask Danny for some pointers on surviving encounters with their boss. Danny should be an expert, he attracted trouble like he attracted girls: all the time and in large quantities.

Once, Adam had left, Mac sat down on the bench himself. _Damn it_, he thought to himself, _I wasn't supposed to apologize. He really does have to run these things past me first, but the look on his face, like he was a puppy that had just gotten kicked and stuck out in the rain with no food. And the way he flinched…_ He sighed, _There's no way I would ever hurt him like that. I don't even want to imagine what that kid's been through. _


End file.
